May These Noises Startle You in Your Sleep Tonight
Cleaning
Jaime's lifeless eyes bore into mine. I couldn't believe I just did that. Like, yeah, I've tortured a countless number of souls in Hell before, but this was the first time I'd ever killed a living human being. It felt . . . wrong? No, not wrong, just different. Yeah, that's it, I'm just not used to it yet. I'm sure it'll get easier over time. Pretty soon I'll find satisfaction in watching their lives be ripped away from them, wasted without a second glance. It has to get easier, doesn't it?
I wouldn't think about that right now. I had other problems to attend to at the moment. Such as the dead body right in front of me whose blood was starting to stain the carpeted floor. Fuck. I probably should've thought this through a little more.
I waited until everyone at the party was either gone or passed out. Hours passed as I sat on the floor, trying my hardest not to look directly at Jaime's body. Why was this bothering me so much? Why should I care if I killed someone? I'm a fucking demon! By the time the house was relatively silent, I had managed to convince myself that this was all worth it. I would be promoted to Missionary. I could keep doing this. It'd be okay.
I decided to go downstairs and make sure the coast was clear before going back up to the room and retrieving Jaime. Luckily, everyone was passed out on the floor and no one awoke as I carried Jaime through the house. The journey to the back door was not one without difficulty as I stumbled over drunken bodies on the floor, but we finally made it - or I made it. Whatever. Right now I needed to find some place to dump the body. I would come back to the house to clean up the mess in the bedroom as soon as I was finished.
It was nearing dawn by the time I had cleaned up all the evidence in Jack's house and had Jaime's body floating down a nearby river into the next town. It took me a few hours, and it was gruesome work. A few people were stirring in their sleep as I left Jack's house, but no one knew what I had been doing. If anyone saw me, they probably just assumed that I had passed out there as well and was going home now. I made myself invisible and went back to Kellin's house, arriving there at about seven in the morning. I stayed in the basement for the rest of the day, catching fragments of conversations upstairs about Jaime being missing. Later that night they finally got the news that Jaime was dead. His body was found by some campers, washed up in the river about a mile away from where I dumped him. I was relieved to hear that they didn't know what happened.
School was called off the next day. So many people were mourning that not many people probably would've shown up anyway. Jaime was a pretty popular guy. How could he not be, with his award winning smile and charming personality? Although Kellin and Ronnie were his best friends, he fit in with pretty much every group, and all the kids he wasn't friends with were just glad for the day off today. I, for one, was bored out of my mind. As lame as it sounds, without school, I literally had nothing to do. I was stuck in Kellin's basement with no one to talk to except myself. Even in Hell I had a few friends, like Tony and my brother Mike.
I decided to walk around Kellin's house and busy myself; unseen of course. Both of his parents were sitting in the living room watching TV, and one of his little brothers was in the kitchen eating. I silently traveled upstairs, not having a specific location in mind to go to. I walked down the dark hallway and passed Kellin's bedroom. I was about to keep walking, but when I glanced inside I saw Kellin sitting on his bed crying. Suddenly intrigued, I walked closer and saw that he was looking through pictures of Jaime on his phone. I frowned and knelt next to him, staring up into his beautiful tear-filled eyes. I hadn't considered this being part of the mission. I didn't think about what I was doing upsetting people, but it was stupid to think that my actions would have no consequences.
I didn't like this. I had no idea why, but I didn't want Kellin to be hurting. I was about to brush one of Kellin's tears away from his cheek, but I stopped myself at the last second, hand hovering next to his face before sighing and dropping it back at my side. It was strange knowing that here I was, mere inches away from Kellin, yet he couldn't see me. He had no idea I was even in his house.
I slowly stood up and backed away from the crying boy, who was desperately trying to compose himself and wipe the remaining tears from his face. I needed to fix this, or at least console him for a while. I walked back into the hallway and leant against the wall, letting myself become visible. I waited another minute for Kellin to calm down more before poking my head through the doorway.
"Kellin?" I asked. Kellin's head shot up from where he had been staring at the floor. His brows creased slightly in a frown.
"Vic? What are you doing here?" he asked. I walked a few feet further into the room and stopped at the foot of Kellin's bed.
"I just came to check up on you. How are you doing?" I asked softly. I knew that Kellin and I weren't exactly the best of friends, but I was trying to be kind while he was hurting. He didn't question it though, or how I knew where he lived. I knew he had other things on his mind.
He shrugged. "I don't know. I just can't believe it. He was my best friend. I've known him since kindergarten."
I nodded understandingly, trying to convey a look of sympathy, but since I've never really felt sympathy before I didn't know how well it was working.
"Jack's beating himself up pretty bad. He thinks it's his fault since we were all at his house," he said.
"It's not his fault. He couldn't have known," I replied. Kellin nodded.
"I know. I just . . . I was looking for him earlier that night. I was going to talk to him about something but then he didn't come down for a while so I went home. I wish I had stayed. I could've given him a ride home, he would have been safe . . . " he trailed off at the end, tears starting to escape from his eyes. I sat down on the bed next to him and stroked his back in a way that I hoped was comforting.
"Don't beat yourself up over it. It's not your fault. It's not anybody's." Well, actually, it was mine. "Until they find out what happened, we don't have anybody to blame." Except for me. You should probably blame me.
Kellin nodded again and took a deep breath.
"He - he was always so sweet. Me and my friends always get up to pretty weird shit, and half the time Jaime's common sense was the only thing keeping us from getting arrested or killed," Kellin laughed softly. "He was always the worrier of the group."
I watched Kellin's face go from somber as he remembered some of his and Jaime's best memories to despair as the realization fully hit him that his friend was gone. Tears began streaming down his face and he did nothing to stop them. He leant forward and buried his face in his hands, his elbows resting on his thighs.
"I just want my best friend back," he whimpered. I felt a pool of guilt start swirling in my gut as I watched him break down and sob, and all I wanted was to make Kellin feel better. I scooted closer to him and pulled his shaking frame against my chest. For a split second I feared that I was pushing boundaries with him, but he immediately responded by wrapping his arms around me and crying into my shoulder.
I hugged Kellin even tighter and stroked my fingers through his raven locks. It was kind of nice having him this close. I had never really held anyone before. I loved the feeling of Kellin's tiny arms wrapped around me, clinging to me.
Wait, what am I doing? I shouldn't want this; I shouldn't even be doing this! This is completely out of line. I'm supposed to kill him, not cuddle him! But I couldn't deny that I loved the warmth he radiated, the feeling of his nose nuzzling up against my neck. It's not like this was compromising the mission or anything, I was just playing my part of the caring friend so that I could get close to him. This was all completely new to me, and I found that I liked it. I liked it a lot.
I wouldn't think about that right now. I had other problems to attend to at the moment. Such as the dead body right in front of me whose blood was starting to stain the carpeted floor. Fuck. I probably should've thought this through a little more.
I waited until everyone at the party was either gone or passed out. Hours passed as I sat on the floor, trying my hardest not to look directly at Jaime's body. Why was this bothering me so much? Why should I care if I killed someone? I'm a fucking demon! By the time the house was relatively silent, I had managed to convince myself that this was all worth it. I would be promoted to Missionary. I could keep doing this. It'd be okay.
I decided to go downstairs and make sure the coast was clear before going back up to the room and retrieving Jaime. Luckily, everyone was passed out on the floor and no one awoke as I carried Jaime through the house. The journey to the back door was not one without difficulty as I stumbled over drunken bodies on the floor, but we finally made it - or I made it. Whatever. Right now I needed to find some place to dump the body. I would come back to the house to clean up the mess in the bedroom as soon as I was finished.
It was nearing dawn by the time I had cleaned up all the evidence in Jack's house and had Jaime's body floating down a nearby river into the next town. It took me a few hours, and it was gruesome work. A few people were stirring in their sleep as I left Jack's house, but no one knew what I had been doing. If anyone saw me, they probably just assumed that I had passed out there as well and was going home now. I made myself invisible and went back to Kellin's house, arriving there at about seven in the morning. I stayed in the basement for the rest of the day, catching fragments of conversations upstairs about Jaime being missing. Later that night they finally got the news that Jaime was dead. His body was found by some campers, washed up in the river about a mile away from where I dumped him. I was relieved to hear that they didn't know what happened.
School was called off the next day. So many people were mourning that not many people probably would've shown up anyway. Jaime was a pretty popular guy. How could he not be, with his award winning smile and charming personality? Although Kellin and Ronnie were his best friends, he fit in with pretty much every group, and all the kids he wasn't friends with were just glad for the day off today. I, for one, was bored out of my mind. As lame as it sounds, without school, I literally had nothing to do. I was stuck in Kellin's basement with no one to talk to except myself. Even in Hell I had a few friends, like Tony and my brother Mike.
I decided to walk around Kellin's house and busy myself; unseen of course. Both of his parents were sitting in the living room watching TV, and one of his little brothers was in the kitchen eating. I silently traveled upstairs, not having a specific location in mind to go to. I walked down the dark hallway and passed Kellin's bedroom. I was about to keep walking, but when I glanced inside I saw Kellin sitting on his bed crying. Suddenly intrigued, I walked closer and saw that he was looking through pictures of Jaime on his phone. I frowned and knelt next to him, staring up into his beautiful tear-filled eyes. I hadn't considered this being part of the mission. I didn't think about what I was doing upsetting people, but it was stupid to think that my actions would have no consequences.
I didn't like this. I had no idea why, but I didn't want Kellin to be hurting. I was about to brush one of Kellin's tears away from his cheek, but I stopped myself at the last second, hand hovering next to his face before sighing and dropping it back at my side. It was strange knowing that here I was, mere inches away from Kellin, yet he couldn't see me. He had no idea I was even in his house.
I slowly stood up and backed away from the crying boy, who was desperately trying to compose himself and wipe the remaining tears from his face. I needed to fix this, or at least console him for a while. I walked back into the hallway and leant against the wall, letting myself become visible. I waited another minute for Kellin to calm down more before poking my head through the doorway.
"Kellin?" I asked. Kellin's head shot up from where he had been staring at the floor. His brows creased slightly in a frown.
"Vic? What are you doing here?" he asked. I walked a few feet further into the room and stopped at the foot of Kellin's bed.
"I just came to check up on you. How are you doing?" I asked softly. I knew that Kellin and I weren't exactly the best of friends, but I was trying to be kind while he was hurting. He didn't question it though, or how I knew where he lived. I knew he had other things on his mind.
He shrugged. "I don't know. I just can't believe it. He was my best friend. I've known him since kindergarten."
I nodded understandingly, trying to convey a look of sympathy, but since I've never really felt sympathy before I didn't know how well it was working.
"Jack's beating himself up pretty bad. He thinks it's his fault since we were all at his house," he said.
"It's not his fault. He couldn't have known," I replied. Kellin nodded.
"I know. I just . . . I was looking for him earlier that night. I was going to talk to him about something but then he didn't come down for a while so I went home. I wish I had stayed. I could've given him a ride home, he would have been safe . . . " he trailed off at the end, tears starting to escape from his eyes. I sat down on the bed next to him and stroked his back in a way that I hoped was comforting.
"Don't beat yourself up over it. It's not your fault. It's not anybody's." Well, actually, it was mine. "Until they find out what happened, we don't have anybody to blame." Except for me. You should probably blame me.
Kellin nodded again and took a deep breath.
"He - he was always so sweet. Me and my friends always get up to pretty weird shit, and half the time Jaime's common sense was the only thing keeping us from getting arrested or killed," Kellin laughed softly. "He was always the worrier of the group."
I watched Kellin's face go from somber as he remembered some of his and Jaime's best memories to despair as the realization fully hit him that his friend was gone. Tears began streaming down his face and he did nothing to stop them. He leant forward and buried his face in his hands, his elbows resting on his thighs.
"I just want my best friend back," he whimpered. I felt a pool of guilt start swirling in my gut as I watched him break down and sob, and all I wanted was to make Kellin feel better. I scooted closer to him and pulled his shaking frame against my chest. For a split second I feared that I was pushing boundaries with him, but he immediately responded by wrapping his arms around me and crying into my shoulder.
I hugged Kellin even tighter and stroked my fingers through his raven locks. It was kind of nice having him this close. I had never really held anyone before. I loved the feeling of Kellin's tiny arms wrapped around me, clinging to me.
Wait, what am I doing? I shouldn't want this; I shouldn't even be doing this! This is completely out of line. I'm supposed to kill him, not cuddle him! But I couldn't deny that I loved the warmth he radiated, the feeling of his nose nuzzling up against my neck. It's not like this was compromising the mission or anything, I was just playing my part of the caring friend so that I could get close to him. This was all completely new to me, and I found that I liked it. I liked it a lot.